The invention belongs to the field of audio and video recording. Today, live recordings are usually made by storing a recorded analog signal on an audio or video tape. Tape is also generally the medium used for long-term storage of previously recorded material. This system is effective for the basic recording process, but it presents problems for the evaluation of recorded signals. The linear nature of tape, where later material is recorded on the continuous medium following earlier material, makes access to the recorded material difficult.
For example, the continuous nature of tape provides no convenient means of labeling or locating a particular segment. One segment follows on another with no means of delimiting the individual segments; the tape is in essence one long recording rather than a collection of the segments of which it consists. This makes location and access to a particular segment an imprecise process, even if a (manually made) notation of a segment's location is available. A different tape can be used for each segment, but that is an inefficient solution for reasons both of expense and volume of storage.
Audio and video tapes are also poor media for fast playback of recorded material. To play material recorded earlier, the tape must be rewound, which is a time-consuming process even if the location of the desired segment is known. Furthermore, it is often desirable to compare segments of recorded material on more than one tape, which requires switching the player from one tape to another. And to play more than one segment in succession, in order to view segments in context, for example, a new recording must be made or more than one player used, a cumbersome process at best.